The "Old Mortality" of the Turf. 319 



Beckford, Delme Radcliffe, Apperley, Smith, 

 Vyner, Grantley Berkeley, ' Scrutator,' 

 ■ Cecil,' ' Harry Hieover,' ' Gelert,' ' Jorrocks' 

 and John Mills have written so much and so 

 well on the science of the sport, that he has 

 been obliged to try and hold his own line, 

 and confine himself to its gossip." 



It is a proverbial saying that lookers-on see 

 most of the game, and never yet was there 

 a looker-on who saw farther into the true 

 inwardness of the subjects upon which he 

 descanted than " The Druid." He could 

 trace Velocipede's blaze of light in the face 

 and white legs of a foal distant by three or 

 four generations from that mighty " miler " ; 

 the lop ears and Roman nose of Melbourne 

 flashed upon his eye as he saw a far-away 

 descendant of that illustrious sire whom 

 Mr. Sidney Herbert refused to take at 250 

 guineas ; and the elegance of Orlando 

 delighted him when reproduced in the light- 

 limbed Teddington, Ariosto, and Bay Rosa- 

 lind. He had a word to say upon the pecu- 

 liarities of soil, herbage, and water which 

 distinguished every famous stud farm in 

 England, and such redoubtable stud grooms 



